Titanium The Fallen

Prelude: The Titanium series of transforming robots was a bit of an odd series. Long before Thrilling 30, Legacy, or any other homage-heavy toyline you might name, Titanium released a wild mixture of characters from different continuities, among them the only official figures based on Dreamwave’s War Within comic series. One of them was the first-ever figure of The Fallen. Can he light your fire? Let’s say go!

Robot Mode: Let’s start with something that is a general problem with the Titanium series, namely that all the figures are the same size. The Fallen should definitely tower over most “normal” Transformers, he should be Voyager-class at the very least, but here he is roughly the size of a Deluxe. Apart from the size, though, he does look pretty powerful and impressive, I must say. He is mostly black with numerous slits that invoke the image of a black iron furnace with fire burning inside. The panels emerging from behind his back show painted flames, invoking the image of him being on fire (as he always was during his comic appearances).

Like most Titanium figures he is well articulated, though the joints are somewhat loose, and the diecast parts make his limbs pretty heavy. So while it is possible to put him in all sorts of poses, he is not the most well-balanced figure of all time. The guns on his arms are a bit loose, too, but unless you play with him dynamically, he’s safe. His fists are really just grey cubes with some lines in them, so he can’t hold anything, but since his guns clip into his forearms, that’s okay.

So bottom line: a very nice robot mode in terms of looks, but with definite room for improvement in terms of design.

Alternate Mode: The Fallen never transformed into alternate mode in the comics, though we did see concept art by Don Figuera, showing him as a kind of futuristic sci-fi tank. So the Titanium figure transforms into a tank as well, though there is only rudimentary resemblance to Figuera’s artwork. Like most Titanium figures his transformation is relatively simple and the resulting tank shows little visible robot bits, so it works just fine. It’s a tiny bit unstable, as the panels from the robot’s back that form the tank’s sides don’t tab together all that well.

Still, we have a workable tank with a turning turret and guns that can aim upwards. Okay, from certain angles you recognize the robot’s fist at the front of the turret, but that’s easily ignored. So bottom line, a decent tank mode for a figure that doesn’t really need an alternate mode.

Remarks: Years before he starred in the much-maligned second live-action Transformers movie, The Fallen first appeared in the second War Within mini-series by (the also much-maligned) Dreamwave comics. A specter from Cybertron’s distant past, he was revealed as one of the original 13 Primes, who betrayed his brothers and his creator to his nemesis Unicron. Attempting to do ... something bad, supposedly ... The Fallen was eventually stopped by a coalition of Autobots and Decepticons and vanished, not to be seen again until he returned in his live-action incarnation.

Overall the Titanium figures are mostly interesting in terms of the weird selection of characters it offers. The figures themselves, like The Fallen, are not really ideal for playing with, but usually nice to look at. I got The Fallen at a pretty cheap price and it’s the only official depiction of the Dreamwave version of the character. So overall I’m pretty happy to get him, but be aware that the toy has some drawbacks.

Rating: B-

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